DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.0 : Embarrassment

Ok so here is DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.0 — the Embarrassment release. I’ve named it that because I’ve had no time to work on it recently and so it still is a) very rough with major holes and b) fails to have all the obvious fixes and enhancements that I have discussed with people.

So why release it at all? Well because having control of the camera exposure from the computer is cool — and at the moment I have it sitting here on my PC working and maybe you’d like to have it on your PC working as well.

New features:

Control exposure mode (M/S/A/P) – Tested D300 works, D40 does not (because that setting is a physical dial on the D40 and software can’t override it)

Control Shutter speed, Aperture, ISO, WB and Exposure Compensation from the PC – Tested D300 and D40 work

Shows battery status while in tethered mode – Tested D300 works

New known bugs, issues and uglinesses

Exposure Compensation drop down makes no sense — 0 means 0 but the others are internal codes, you’ll see what they mean after a few moments though, each one is a third stop plus or minus.

Not all the exposure setting drop downs default to sensible values, e.g. the current camera settings.

Sorry abt that…exposure comp works with D40 too. I tried again and it works. Don’t know what went wrong the first time. But, the exp comp does show large numbers there…not sure if so many levels of comp are available with D40. Will experiment more and let you know.

Im running a D80… Is there any otehr script or application i need to install exept for this one??? I hook up my D80 to the usb port but i cant get it to work.. Is tehre a guide to how to use this program?

Hi Raymond,
runs a little slow on my laptop 1ghz 512ram XP, D40x runs ok not tested compensation controls.
Awsome program.
I was contemplating learning how to program, you have saved me a headache
I hope to use this for astrophotography.
time laps addition would be cool.
Thanks

Thanks for letting me know Marks! Yes I guess that would be slow — but at least it runs. I’d love to do some sky photography too, maybe time laps would be great for that. Trouble is the battery on the camera will give out eventually.

I have not tried this software yet but am very interested in it. I plan to give it a go soon. I have a couple of quick questions. Does this save the file to the camera or computer? Can you over-ride the camera functions by just using the camera? Basically I’m looking for something I can have the camera plugged into the computer and the images show on on the larger screen but shoot from where I am. Then be able to burn a cd right there from the computer. Thanks for your help!

Downloaded this last night, used it to take some pictures for a school dance that was tonight with my D40. Really nice setup when matched with Lightroom, very smooth with only a few hiccups. The only thing I didn’t care for was how it didn’t memorize my settings when I had to restart the program after disconnecting my camera. Otherwise, this beats the hell out of Camera Control Pro!

Great program. A couple questions: will it ever support RAW previews, or is this the same issue as Windows Explorer filmstrip mode? And what external applications will it push? It moves the selection in Windows Explorer, but there is no preview only thumbnail. Doesn’t seem to push RAW Viewer. Any other options besides CSx and Bridge?

@Eddie, that’s very kind of you to say and I’m glad it works for you! The problems you note I do know about and have to fix.

@Lloyd, RAW viewing isn’t really on my todo list because it would probably mean me having to bring in a lot more code. And everybody who shoots RAW has some kind of viewer already I suppose. As far as pushing other apps; I think it should be possible to push anything that takes keypresses. I’ll check it out with Windows RAW viewer and see if I can make that work. That’s for your kind words.

I must admit, I was a bit nervous until I touched a few buttons and voila….it’s up and running. I have shot some test shots but will really put it to the test this weekend. My partner and I are shooting an event. If this goes off without a hitch as I expect it to….